Hands-free audio interactions between users and various applications and computing devices have been increasing. Speech recognition techniques have been developed to allow users to perform various computing tasks, including controlling various devices, using speech as a data input to replace various other types of input devices such as keyboards, mice, remote controls, etc. However, users wish to be unencumbered from having to hold or position themselves very close to microphones capable of detecting their spoken instructions.
Existing speech recognition techniques have generally been developed for speech input from a near-field source. For example, current techniques typically require that a microphone is placed relatively close to a user's mouth (e.g., speaking into a hand-held device, portable computing device, cell phone, headset, etc.). When speech is provided from a far-field, such as when a microphone is placed across a room from the user, the effects of room acoustics may transform or distort the speech, rendering it unusable by a speech processor.